Wednesday, August 25, 2010

BYU Display of Authors

During BYU Education Week, the L. Tom Perry Special Collections opened a display titled "Literary Worlds: Illumination of the Mind." The display highlights 24 poets and novelists in various stages of their careers and writing processes. Manuscripts, letters, drawings, and various artifacts are on display, all of them fascinating.

I'm excited to be one of the featured novelists, along with many others, from Victorian to modern-day. My Alma the Younger novel is featured and the visitors can see the actual comments from my editor on various parts of the manuscript.

The display includes everything from handwritten editing notes from Orson Scott Card, to three sample beginnings from Janette Rallison where her editor kept encouraging her to "try again", and hand-written character cards from G.G. Vandagriff. Also featured is Charles Dickens, Walt Whitman, and Lewis Carroll to name a few.

My daughter, Dana, posing at the exhibit (above).

A catalog accompanies the exhibit and there is an excellent essay on LDS writers, including mentions of Annette Lyon, Josi Kilpack, Jack Weyland, Rachel Nunes, and many more.

Editing notes on Alma the Younger (you will see some back and forth debate)

The exhibit will be open for about 9 months and is located in the BYU Library, 1st floor, north side in the Perry Special Collections Department.

Heather--pretty exciting and well deserved! I'm the moderator of the LDS Reader on Goodreads, and we just finished your Out of Jerusalem (volume 1)for our August group read and everyone loved it! I'm hooked,have read 2 & 3, and am now listening to volume 4 on CD in my car (my kids love listening to the books, too). Thank you for your amazing research and compelling stories. Can't wait to read all of your work. :) Cordially, Wendy Avila, Draper

Wendy, good to know! I'm happy you've enjoyed them :) Just FYI, the next series (Abinadi, Alma, and Alma the Younger) are a bit more "adult" so I'd recommend only children ages 12+ read/listen to the books.